Today is the LAST official day of the ENTWINED RELEASE CONTEST. ENTWINED officially hits store shelves tomorrow!!! In honor of release day, I’m going to be giving away a BUNCH of prizes, so be sure to check back here tomorrow!!

Now on to day 15…

(I’m going to be reposting the contest rules at the beginning of each post. If you’ve already read them, scroll down for today’s post and questions.)

To celebrate the release of ENTWINED, I’m giving away a BUNCH of prizes. There are two parts to this contest:

PART ONE :Post the ENTWINED widget (below) on your FB page, blog sidebar, tweet about the contest and/or book, email your friends and spread the word…basically, any way you talk up the book or contest will enter you for one of three $25 gift cards to the online bookstore of your choice. Winners will be selected after I return from RWA Nationals, the first week in August. Once you’ve done that, email me at elisabeth@elisabethnaughton.com and tell me blabbed about ENTWINED. Be sure to put ENTWINED Release Contest in the subject line. (If you already posted the widget from the blog post I did last week, you’re already entered.) Enter as many times as you like. Every time you spread the word about book 2 in the Eternal Guardians series, send me an email.

PART TWO: Each day for the next two weeks I’ll be giving away AWESOME prizes and spotlighting some fabulous authors. Comment on the daily post to be entered into that day’s drawing. Winners will be chosen randomly from comments and will get to pick their prize. Once a prize is chosen, it’s crossed off the list. Here are the prizes you can win:

I’ve saved the very best for last. Today, my guest is my fantabulous critique partner, whose first romantic suspense will be out soon from Kensington. Please welcome…

Joan Swan!

I’m not much of a blogger. I love reading them, just not writing them. For whatever reason, writing about the writing process adds to the tedium and drains all the creative pleasure for me. And since I don’t believe anyone wants to read about the monotony of my ordinary day, the result is that I don’t blog much.

One of the things I do like to talk about is how to start writing, keep writing and feel good when you’re writing. Anyone who writes knows what a struggle it is. Even readers who follow writers know, because we’re always talking about it. We can’t help but talk about it. Because…yeah, writing is a labor of love, like raising children or building a house or starting your own business from the ground up.

For all you writers out there, here are 10 tips I’ve put together that have been key to my writers inner journey.

Only TWO more days of authors, fun and prizes. Be sure to check back on release day – Tuesday, July 27th. I’ve got some special treats in store for my readers!! Now on to day 14…

(I’m going to be reposting the contest rules at the beginning of each post. If you’ve already read them, scroll down for today’s post and questions.)

To celebrate the release of ENTWINED, I’m giving away a BUNCH of prizes. There are two parts to this contest:

PART ONE :Post the ENTWINED widget (below) on your FB page, blog sidebar, tweet about the contest and/or book, email your friends and spread the word…basically, any way you talk up the book or contest will enter you for one of three $25 gift cards to the online bookstore of your choice. Winners will be selected after I return from RWA Nationals, the first week in August. Once you’ve done that, email me at elisabeth@elisabethnaughton.com and tell me blabbed about ENTWINED. Be sure to put ENTWINED Release Contest in the subject line. (If you already posted the widget from the blog post I did last week, you’re already entered.) Enter as many times as you like. Every time you spread the word about book 2 in the Eternal Guardians series, send me an email.

PART TWO: Each day for the next two weeks I’ll be giving away AWESOME prizes and spotlighting some fabulous authors. Comment on the daily post to be entered into that day’s drawing. Winners will be chosen randomly from comments and will get to pick their prize. Once a prize is chosen, it’s crossed off the list. Here are the prizes you can win:

Today’s Guest is JESSA SLADE!!!

First off, congrats to Elisabeth on her newest Eternal Guardians release! I’m going to dance like Kermit for just a moment because she’ll be presiding over an ENTWINED release party in our adjacent rooms at the Romance Writers of America conference in a few days. I’m thinking this may be our only chance to trash a motel room, rock star style.

If you live near Orlando, you can find Elisabeth, me and a couple hundred other romance authors at the 2010 “Readers for Life” Literacy Autographing. The book fair—free and open to the public—takes place Wednesday, July 28, 5:30-7:30 p.m. at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort, Pacific Exhibit Hall, in Orlando, Florida.

Literacy holds a special place in the hearts of writers. Like Tinkerbell couldn’t survive if her audience didn’t believe, books don’t come alive without readers, so authors love readers! More than that, writers are readers first. Most of us could be found with books in our hands from a very young age.

My mom read me Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings when I was a kid. Obviously I was doomed to be a writer of fantastical good and evil! Although I write more kissing than Tolkien did ;)

Here’s the first kiss from FORGED OF SHADOWS, the second book in my Marked Souls urban fantasy romance series. Our heroine, Jilly Chan, has just recently learned that Chicago is infested with malevolent demons—their darkness opposed only by repentant demons possessing some seriously alpha male warriors. And she finds out from Liam Niall, leader of those demon-possessed warriors, that now she’s possessed too.

* * *

Her skin prickled like static electricity, and she wondered if her hair was standing on end. “Are you trying to start a fight?”

“Part of me is, apparently. Damn it.”

“Yes, yes, damn you,” she parroted snidely.

Abruptly, he smiled. The flash of white teeth startled her. “If I do or if I don’t. So I might as well.”

Hands clasped behind his back, he leaned over and kissed her.

Jilly sensed the incoming kiss, felt the pressure wave of the electric current spike the moment before he moved, so her skin flushed with warning heat. And she didn’t step back.

She’d wondered, of course, how his kiss would be. No woman with breath wouldn’t wonder. She hadn’t thought she’d indulge her curiosity, though, since she was a woman who knew stupid as well as sexy, and while Liam Niall was definitely sexy, kissing him was definitely stupid—especially since he was far too calculating for his own good, or for her own bad, as the case might be.

And then he slanted his mouth over hers and the wild circle of her thoughts flew apart.

Warm. Soft. And as fleeting as his smile.

The sigh of his breath was gone before she caught more than a whiff of that elusive scent, heather and woodsmoke. Her own breath hitched in her chest, as if he’d taken something from her, more frightening than the knife that had pierced and slid from her body with such ease.

He lifted his head and gazed down at her. She realized her hands were fisted in the front of his coat, not flattened to push him away, but tangled tight to draw him closer. In the dark blue of his eyes, she caught a glimpse of bewilderment as profound as her own. Where had the steady, reserved leader gone?

She drew in a deep lungful of bracing chill. “What was that?”

“A kiss, last I checked.” He paused. “Although I admit it has been a while.” With one finger, he touched his lower lip, just a glancing caress, as if he was double- and triple-checking.

That hinted uncertainty sent another wave of heat coursing through her. “Why?”

“Leading a gang of immortal demon slayers doesn’t leave a lot of time for deep, meaningful relationships.”

She glared at him for his purposeful obtuseness. “Why did you kiss me?”

* * *

Silly Jilly, alpha males don’t need a reason for kissing, although Tolkien would probably make up a secret language in a separate appendix to explain why. To read more of FORGED OF SHADOWS visit http://tinyurl.com/forgedofshadows. Need a soundtrack to go along with the reading? You can download the free MP3 of the Marked Souls theme song at http://tinyurl.com/seducedsingle.

How about you; did you have a special book you read as a child that launched your love of reading? Share your recommendations in comments and maybe someday we can tempt a non-reader to follow us to the dark side.

(BONUS NOTE: Jessa has gratiously donated another copy of FORGED OF SHADOWS for today’s contest. So we’ll have two winners today – one will get to pick from the remaining prizes on the prize list, one will get FORGED OF SHADOWS!!! Andwer Jessa’s question above to be entered for both prizes!)

Three more days of authors, fun and prizes. Be sure to check back on release day – Tuesday, July 27th. I’ve got some special treats in store for my readers!! Now on to day 132…

(I’m going to be reposting the contest rules at the beginning of each post. If you’ve already read them, scroll down for today’s post and questions.)

To celebrate the release of ENTWINED, I’m giving away a BUNCH of prizes. There are two parts to this contest:

PART ONE :Post the ENTWINED widget (below) on your FB page, blog sidebar, tweet about the contest and/or book, email your friends and spread the word…basically, any way you talk up the book or contest will enter you for one of three $25 gift cards to the online bookstore of your choice. Winners will be selected after I return from RWA Nationals, the first week in August. Once you’ve done that, email me at elisabeth@elisabethnaughton.com and tell me blabbed about ENTWINED. Be sure to put ENTWINED Release Contest in the subject line. (If you already posted the widget from the blog post I did last week, you’re already entered.) Enter as many times as you like. Every time you spread the word about book 2 in the Eternal Guardians series, send me an email.

PART TWO: Each day for the next two weeks I’ll be giving away AWESOME prizes and spotlighting some fabulous authors. Comment on the daily post to be entered into that day’s drawing. Winners will be chosen randomly from comments and will get to pick their prize. Once a prize is chosen, it’s crossed off the list. Here are the prizes you can win:

And my 2nd author today is Cynthia Eden!

Cynthia’s upcoming release is DEADLY FEAR, the first in her new romantic suspense series from Grand Central Publishing, which releases on July 27th as well:

TWO BRILLIANT AGENTS

FBI Special Agent Monica Davenport has made a career out of profiling serial killers. But getting inside the twisted minds of the cruel and the sadistic has taken its toll: She’s walled herself off from the world. Yet Monica can’t ignore fellow agent Luke Dante, the only man who ever broke through her defenses.

ONE DREAM TEAM

Luke has the unique ability to put victims at ease…professionally, he and Monica made a perfect team. Now they’re reunited to catch a murderer who uses his victims’ deepest, darkest fears for sport – but their investigative skills aren’t enough. Luke and Monica will have to face the secrets from their past, the ones that terrify them the most, if they are to have a future together.

We’re winding down. Four more days of authors, fun and prizes. Be sure to check back on release day – Tuesday, July 27th. I’ve got some special treats in store for my readers!! Now on to day 12…

(I’m going to be reposting the contest rules at the beginning of each post. If you’ve already read them, scroll down for today’s post and questions.)

To celebrate the release of ENTWINED, I’m giving away a BUNCH of prizes. There are two parts to this contest:

PART ONE :Post the ENTWINED widget (below) on your FB page, blog sidebar, tweet about the contest and/or book, email your friends and spread the word…basically, any way you talk up the book or contest will enter you for one of three $25 gift cards to the online bookstore of your choice. Winners will be selected after I return from RWA Nationals, the first week in August. Once you’ve done that, email me at elisabeth@elisabethnaughton.com and tell me blabbed about ENTWINED. Be sure to put ENTWINED Release Contest in the subject line. (If you already posted the widget from the blog post I did last week, you’re already entered.) Enter as many times as you like. Every time you spread the word about book 2 in the Eternal Guardians series, send me an email.

PART TWO: Each day for the next two weeks I’ll be giving away AWESOME prizes and spotlighting some fabulous authors. Comment on the daily post to be entered into that day’s drawing. Winners will be chosen randomly from comments and will get to pick their prize. Once a prize is chosen, it’s crossed off the list. Here are the prizes you can win:

First up is Marie-Claude Bourque!

Marie-Claude’s latest book is ANCIENT WHISPERS:

ok. Gabriel is the youngest member of the Priory of Callan—an ancient Celtic brotherhood of cursed sorcerers and alchemists, each with deadly abilities and each haunted by a tragic past. Tortured by the devastating loss of his fiancée in 1755, Gabriel wants nothing more than to reunite with his soul mate.

Two and a half centuries later, Gabriel is still searching for his love. And then he finds Lily Bellefontaine. Cool-headed and practical, she has no memory of Gabriel. But she also can’t deny the pull of attraction drawing her under his seductive spell, urging her to give in to the…

Next up is the fantabulous Donna Grant!

Donna’s latest release is FORBIDDEN HIGHLANDER:

A DANGEROUS SECRET…

Fallon MacLeod has gifts any warrior would covet – fierce strength, unmatched skill, even immortality. But those gifts come at a price that puts everyone he loves at risk. Only when his brother, Quinn, is taken captive does Fallon leave the seclusion of his Highland home to seek the king’s aid. And though every women at court would gladly be his for the asking, one alone causes desire to roar to life within him: beautiful, mysterious Larena Monroe.

A WILD DESIRE…

Rumors swirl around the castle about “The McLeod” but Larena knows the truth. Like Fallon, Larena is searching for a way to vanquish the evil Druid who wants to wreak havoc on earth. Drawn to Fallon in spite of her fear, she surrenders to a passion that shocks them both with its raw intensity. But Larena dares not hope for more – not when she holds a secret that could turn her fiery Highland love against her forever…

(I’m going to be reposting the contest rules at the beginning of each post. If you’ve already read them, scroll down for today’s post and questions. And don’t forget to scroll down for the Golden Heart Spotlight as well!)

To celebrate the release of ENTWINED, I’m giving away a BUNCH of prizes. There are two parts to this contest:

PART ONE :Post the ENTWINED widget (below) on your FB page, blog sidebar, tweet about the contest and/or book, email your friends and spread the word…basically, any way you talk up the book or contest will enter you for one of three $25 gift cards to the online bookstore of your choice. Winners will be selected after I return from RWA Nationals, the first week in August. Once you’ve done that, email me at elisabeth@elisabethnaughton.com and tell me blabbed about ENTWINED. Be sure to put ENTWINED Release Contest in the subject line. (If you already posted the widget from the blog post I did last week, you’re already entered.) Enter as many times as you like. Every time you spread the word about book 2 in the Eternal Guardians series, send me an email.

PART TWO: Each day for the next two weeks I’ll be giving away AWESOME prizes and spotlighting some fabulous authors. Comment on the daily post to be entered into that day’s drawing. Winners will be chosen randomly from comments and will get to pick their prize. Once a prize is chosen, it’s crossed off the list. Here are the prizes you can win:

Author Caroline Fyffe!

Hi, all! I’m excited to be here participating in Elisabeth’s Entwined Release Contest. It’s been fantastic so far! Today I’d like to share with you my western historical that releases on July 27th, a few, short, exciting days away!

MONTANA DAWN, a Golden Heart Finalist in 2007, takes place in the little town of Y Knot, Montana in the late 1800s. The McCutcheons, a cattle ranching family, have carved a dynasty from the wilderness by the sweat of their brow and honorable values. Luke McCutcheon, the third brother and the hero of this story, is the only one who was sired by an American Indian, when his mother was taken captive. He’s the trail boss for the once-a-year cattle drive the McCutcheons make. When he comes upon Faith Brown giving birth in her wagon, he’s shocked to learn her little son is Faith’s only help. He agrees to stay and deliver her child. That’s when all the fun begins….

I love stories about big families. I wanted to give Luke as much unconditional love as he needed to battle his own ghosts about his heritage. John McCutcheon, the youngest brother, is introduced in MONTANA DAWN, but you don’t actually meet him until my next book, ONCE UPON A TEXAS TWILIGHT, planned for next year.

If you’d like to participate in my own launch drawing it’s easy. Just go to my website www.carolinefyffe.com and sign up for my News Letter on my Contact Page. That will enter you in my grand prize drawing for a basket filled with candies, chocolates, muffin mix, a handsome coffee mug (filled with more chocolate!) and a jar of scrumptious jam, all made from the Big Sky State’s coveted Huckleberry. Also included is an autographed copy of both MONTANA DAWN and WHERE THE WIND BLOWS. It’s as easy as pie. Winner will be drawn just in time for Christmas on December 10th, 2010.

Now, tell me; have you ever vacationed in an old historical town? A ghost town or place? What about a dude ranch or cattle drive?

Cat Shield ventured into the world of writing romance fiction while still in high school. It has been her passion ever since. Thirteen years ago she put her dream of getting published on hold in favor of motherhood. She spent a couple years working two jobs, saved money, and adopted a little girl from China. Cat’s other passion is sailing. Five years ago she embarked on a sailing adventure in the British Virgin Islands with friends. The trip inspired an article that appeared in International Yacht Charters & Vacations magazine. Getting published in a national magazine revived her desire to see her books in print. Four years later, she has won numerous writing contests, received a bunch of requests from editors, and achieved one dream: a final in the Golden Heart. To learn more about Cat, visit her website at http://www.catschield.com/

Pursued by his brother’s fiancée, Simon Holcroft, needs a pretend fiancée to accompany him home for Christmas. When circumstances place his maid, Caroline Sampson, in the right place at the right time, he persuades the law student to help him out.

Without any family to call her own since her mother’s death ten years before, Caroline longs to spend Christmas with Simon’s family, but she believes in total honesty when it comes to those you love. Her discomfort with their deception puts them at odds, even as every sizzling kiss makes her forget that she and Simon aren’t getting married.

Acting as if they’re in love feels less like pretending with each hour that passes, but Simon isn’t only keeping secrets from his family, he’s keeping one from Caroline. If the truth comes out, he risks losing her and any shot at future happiness.

And now a little more about Cat…

1) How long have you been writing?I’ve been writing since I was eleven. Writing for publication since my late teens.

2) Did you always want to be an author or is this something you fell into later in life?It’s what I always wanted to do.

3) What do you do in your “other” life? (Day job, family, etc.)In my “other” life, I have a wonderful eleven-year-old daughter. She is my ray of sunshine during those dark days of writer’s block and rejections. For my day job, I work in finance.

5) Do you have an agent?Yes. Kevan Lyon of the Marsal Lyon Literary Agency. She’s awesome.

6) Where do you see yourself in five years?Happily writing and getting paid for it. I’d love to be able to support myself with writing full time. It’s been my dream forever.

And now, in Cat’s own words…

The Internal Editor

I’m supposed to end this blog post with a question. Instead, I’m going to start with one. Do you have a healthy relationship with your internal editor?

By that, I mean, are you able to turn that voice in your head on and off at will, or does it drown out the melodious murmur of your muse until you approach a blank page filled with dread rather than delight?

When I first started writing for publication in late 2006, I was very productive. I’d been away from the business side of writing long enough to forget how frustrating trying to get published can be. I wrote two books in four months, entered them in a ton of contests, and knew if I worked hard, I’d be published. Meanwhile, I polished those books and started a third that I finished in record time. It was a blissfully creative, highly productive time for me. Then reality hit.

Contest judges tore apart my writing. The line I was targeting underwent a radical change, and my stories no longer matched their guidelines. I lost my direction and my focus. I began to wonder if I’d been kidding myself to think I could ever get published.

I knew I could write, a string of contest finals and a couple of wins got me requests from editors, but I’d lost confidence that all my hard work could land me on the bookshelves. See, I wasn’t quite hitting the mark. This is when I started a series of first chapters. Some I tossed into contests, hoping to figure out what the editors were looking for. Others never got past 2500 words. I wasn’t writing a story I loved. I was listening to that voice inside my head that was telling me I’d never get published unless I wrote historical or paranormal or anything other than what I wanted to write.

And suddenly. I couldn’t write at all.

Frustrated and desperate, I signed up for National November Write Month or NaNoWriMo. Write a book of 50,000 words in a month. Word count is all that matters. You must write an average of 1666 words per day for 30 days. You have permission to write crap. All the pressure is off. And guess what? Your internal editor gets locked in a closet by your muse. Whoohoo!

Since November, using this fast writing technique, I’ve produced three short contemporary novels and a 90,000 word single title. Are the books any good? I have no idea, I haven’t read them. In my mind they’re lumps of raw clay waiting to be shaped. To quote Nora Roberts, “You can’t fix a blank page.”

The other tool to silence my internal editor is meditation. I start out every morning listening to a fifteen minute guided meditation that Stacia D. Kelly did in her Breath. Focus. Achieve. workshop at the 2009 Nationals. Starting out each day with my thoughts focused on what I can control (my writing) has helped when those negative critiques and rejections hit.

Now, when that little voice inside my head whines at me that I’m never going to get published because my stories suck or I’m not writing what an editor wants to buy, I hit the mute button and write 200 words.

Are you plagued by an internal editor? What do you do to turn down the volume?

(I’m going to be reposting the contest rules at the beginning of each post. If you’ve already read them, scroll down for today’s post and questions.)

To celebrate the release of ENTWINED, I’m giving away a BUNCH of prizes. There are two parts to this contest:

PART ONE :Post the ENTWINED widget (below) on your FB page, blog sidebar, tweet about the contest and/or book, email your friends and spread the word…basically, any way you talk up the book or contest will enter you for one of three $25 gift cards to the online bookstore of your choice. Winners will be selected after I return from RWA Nationals, the first week in August. Once you’ve done that, email me at elisabeth@elisabethnaughton.com and tell me blabbed about ENTWINED. Be sure to put ENTWINED Release Contest in the subject line. (If you already posted the widget from the blog post I did last week, you’re already entered.) Enter as many times as you like. Every time you spread the word about book 2 in the Eternal Guardians series, send me an email.

PART TWO: Each day for the next two weeks I’ll be giving away AWESOME prizes and spotlighting some fabulous authors. Comment on the daily post to be entered into that day’s drawing. Winners will be chosen randomly from comments and will get to pick their prize. Once a prize is chosen, it’s crossed off the list. Here are the prizes you can win:

First up is Michelle M. Pillow!

Michelle’s latest release is ANIMAL INSTINCTS:

The wild thing she saved is the man she’ll desire most.

Eve Matthews, head veterinarian at Jameson Wildlife Rescue and Preserve, measures success by no one’s rules but her own—much to her rich parents’ distress. A life filled with animals means she’s rarely alone. Still, a little human contact of the male variety would be nice.

The only one in her life right now is Midnight, a black panther she brought back from the brink of death. She doesn’t think twice about bringing him home to keep an eye on him. Changing clothes in front of his golden eyes. Confessing her deepest fantasies to his alert ears. It’s not as if he’ll ever tell anyone her secrets.

Forced to watch her every move, listen to her every word, Viktor is in torment, trapped in panther form while he heals. He aches to fill her nights with the pleasure she craves, but to shift too soon risks death. Until the night she pleasures herself, and he can take no more.

They come together in a cataclysm too fierce to be a dream. But the shifter who left Viktor for dead is drawing near, determined to finish the job he started.

And next up is Anthea Lawson!

Anthea Lawson – You do what with your husband?

It’s unusual, certainly, and challenging. People give us funny looks when we tell them, then blink and say things like “And you’re still happily married? I would have murdered my spouse if we tried that.”

No, it’s not an extreme sport or something kinky. Are you sure you really want to know? All right, brace yourselves.

We co-author historical romances together.

That’s right, we’re a husband-wife romance-writing team. Hey, there are lots of married co-authors out there! We know of at least, er… two besides us.

We didn’t plan on writing together, but like many projects that one of us starts, the other gives it a look and says “hmm, that seems interesting.” The journey has certainly been more than interesting – it’s been exciting, sometimes challenging, and full of discovery. Writing romance helps keep our own relationship strong by reminding us that our connection to others, especially our mates, is one of the most important things there is.

(I’m going to be reposting the contest rules at the beginning of each post. If you’ve already read them, scroll down for today’s post and questions.)

To celebrate the release of ENTWINED, I’m giving away a BUNCH of prizes. There are two parts to this contest:

PART ONE :Post the ENTWINED widget (below) on your FB page, blog sidebar, tweet about the contest and/or book, email your friends and spread the word…basically, any way you talk up the book or contest will enter you for one of three $25 gift cards to the online bookstore of your choice. Winners will be selected after I return from RWA Nationals, the first week in August. Once you’ve done that, email me at elisabeth@elisabethnaughton.com and tell me blabbed about ENTWINED. Be sure to put ENTWINED Release Contest in the subject line. (If you already posted the widget from the blog post I did last week, you’re already entered.) Enter as many times as you like. Every time you spread the word about book 2 in the Eternal Guardians series, send me an email.

PART TWO: Each day for the next two weeks I’ll be giving away AWESOME prizes and spotlighting some fabulous authors. Comment on the daily post to be entered into that day’s drawing. Winners will be chosen randomly from comments and will get to pick their prize. Once a prize is chosen, it’s crossed off the list. Here are the prizes you can win:

Today we’ve got HELEN SCOTT TAYLOR on the blog!

Helen’s latest release is The Phoenix Charm:

He’s Pure Temptation.

Cordelia has sworn she’ll abstain from looking into Michael’s future—particularly when the image in the gilded smoke of her divination mirror shows him half naked. Yet she can’t resist watching the sexy rascal slowly running his hand down his ribs, over his abdomen, flicking open the button on his jeans with a little flourish like a magician performing a trick.

She’s Trying To Resist.

Respectable wise woman Cordelia restrains her secret water nymph sensuality with the Celtic symbols painted on her skin. But Michael’s powerful fairy glamour leaves her breathless, off balance, struggling for control. When Gwyn ap Nudd, the Welsh King of the Underworld, steals away Michael’s infant nephew, Cordelia must work with him to save the child. But how can she trust her instincts with Michael tempting her to explore the hidden elemental depths of her nature and insisting that she believe in the power of…The Phoenix Charm.

When Jillian was a little mongoose, she loved crayons. She drew with crayons. Wrote with crayons––she even melted them together and made her own colors: burnt sienna and cornflower swirl. But she grew up conflicted. Should she aspire to artist or writer?

She solved the problem by becoming an advertising creative. And her career did seem to take off, winning many national awards including the Clio and the New York Art Director’s Club Gold. What more could she ask for? Create her own world? Become goddess of her own universe? Yes!

So, she began to write fiction. She wrote and wrote and learned to do a lot of rewriting, until she finished her first manuscript. Then she wrote another. Last July, she completed her third novel, THE YARD MAN, which finaled in a number of regional RWA contests as well as the Golden Heart. She has recently finished a companion novel, THE SEDUCTION OF PHAETON BLACK.

Jill lives in Southern California Wine Country. Her son has currently moved back home and returned to graduate school. (An excellent use of one’s time when unemployed.) She has a dog named Terrible Margaret (Maggie) and a horse named Bronson, who also lives with her (in the barn, anyway).

Gillian’s 2010 Golden Heart manuscript is THE YARD MAN, which finaled in the Romantic Suspense category:

Set in late Victorian London, Scotland Yard detectives have never been as wickedly sexy or as brilliantly clever as Zeno Augustus Kennedy. Brilliant, troubled, and wildly uninhibited in the bedchamber, he is an enigma of the first order. Having lost his mistress, killed in a horrific blast perpetrated by Irish dynamiters, Zeno has struggled for years to forgive himself for not preventing the bomb attack. Just as the memory of his explosive past begins to ease, the young widow Cassandra St. Cloud moves in next door.

After six months of marriage and nearly three years of mourning, Cassandra is more than ready to purge off her widow’s weeds and begin life anew. An artist by temperament as well as training, she is not only eager to paint again but entertains the idea of a romantic escapade, something discreet but rather daring. Having an amorous and famous detective for a neighbor proves to be more than tempting, especially when her affaire with Mr. Kennedy catapults them both into a perilous adventure.

I asked Jillian to tell us a little about herself. Here’s what she had to say:

1. How long have you been writing?As an advertising creative I have written ad copy for years, but as a serious fiction writer about four years.

2. Did you always want to be an author or is this something you fell into later in life?I always wanted to be a storyteller. I originally thought the logical progression of my career would move from advertising creative to commercial film production to features. But I am very happy with the turn I made four year ago, to novel writing.

3. What do you do in your other life?
I work as a freelance advertising creative, which gives me the flexible kind of schedule I need to pursue fiction writing.

4. Who are your favorite authors?
Phillip K. Dick for his androids. Lewis Carroll for Wonderland, Diana Gabaldon for Jamie Fraser, J. M. Barrie for Peter, Loretta Chase for Sebastian, Frank Herbert for spice pilots and sandworms. Can I mention filmmakers? Hitchcock, Coppola, Coen Brothers, Guillermo del Toro, Tim Burton. I enjoy storytellers who incorporate a sense of darkness poignancy and play in their writing. And huge imagination!

5. Do you have an agent?Been close to signing once, and another agent, who has rejected me twice, continues to leave a door open. Since I write cross-genre, I may have to get offered a publishing contract first, then find an agent to represent me!

6. Where do you see yourself in five years?
Living in Quebec City, Canada or Dunkeld, Scotland writing a new series of eccentric, historical/paranormal/suspense novels.

And now, in Jillian’s own words…

I’VE GOT MAIL. FROM COUSIN DICK.

Every morning, still in pajamas, with coffee mug in hand, I wake up my computer to check e-mail. This is always a thrill, as New York is three hours ahead, and I have query letters out. I ready my index finger above the delete key, punch through a number of advertisements––and yes, I admit, I often trash my own cousin Dick’s daily e-greetings, without opening them.

Dickey likes to send/forward chain e-mail greetings to everyone in his universe of cyber friends. I’m sure you have received one of these. They often have cartoon drawings in them or funny jokes. Dick makes sure I know they are funny because he tells me so at the start of every e-mail by using a little animated emoticon. Sometimes these chain letters are made up of fantasy billboards or bumper stickers, which often involve Viagra jokes and loads of cornball sexual innuendo, or they can be political and offensive in nature––you know the ones. Anyway, these e-greetings circulate all over the internet. I hesitate to use the word viral, because I refuse to forward any of them……..except…….for this one e-greeting I happened to open and read the other day.

This one actually had some relevance to my daily writerly workload. When the e-mail came, I had received two requests for a new manuscript, one from a contest judge and one from a QL, which caused a week of furious edits/rewrites. Arrrgggh!!! Generally, one of the last things I do, is take a look at how I have used the senses––sound, sight, smell, taste, touch. Which brings me back around to the humorous (?) e-mail of the day. In a way, this odd little piece of prose reinforced the importance of using all the senses. Here is the unedited, (dreadful amount of tell) unexpurgated version, compliments of my cousin Dick:

A new Supermarket opened in Elk Grove, California. It has an automatic water mister to keep the produce fresh. Just before it goes on, you hear the distant sound of thunder and the smell of fresh rain.

When you pass the milk cases, you hear cows mooing and you experience the scent of fresh cut hay.

In the meat department there is the aroma of charcoal grilled steaks and brauts.

In the liquor department, the fresh, clean, crisp smell of tapped Miller Lite.

When you approach the egg case, you hear hens cluck and cackle and the air is filled with the pleasing aroma of bacon and eggs frying.

The bakery department features the tantalizing smell of fresh baked bread & cookies.

(I’m going to be reposting the contest rules at the beginning of each post. If you’ve already read them, scroll down for today’s post and questions.)

To celebrate the release of ENTWINED, I’m giving away a BUNCH of prizes. There are two parts to this contest:

PART ONE :Post the ENTWINED widget (below) on your FB page, blog sidebar, tweet about the contest and/or book, email your friends and spread the word…basically, any way you talk up the book or contest will enter you for one of three $25 gift cards to the online bookstore of your choice. Winners will be selected after I return from RWA Nationals, the first week in August. Once you’ve done that, email me at elisabeth@elisabethnaughton.com and tell me blabbed about ENTWINED. Be sure to put ENTWINED Release Contest in the subject line. (If you already posted the widget from the blog post I did last week, you’re already entered.) Enter as many times as you like. Every time you spread the word about book 2 in the Eternal Guardians series, send me an email.

PART TWO: Each day for the next two weeks I’ll be giving away AWESOME prizes and spotlighting some fabulous authors. Comment on the daily post to be entered into that day’s drawing. Winners will be chosen randomly from comments and will get to pick their prize. Once a prize is chosen, it’s crossed off the list. Here are the prizes you can win:

First up is Phyllis Bourne!

Detective Hunter Coleman has a lesson to learn. A lesson in etiquette. At least that’s what his suddenly wealthy girlfriend thinks. Now that he has to entertain socialites, Hunter is going to have to brush up on his p’s and q’s. This detective’s next assignment is a “Manners Makeover” at the Spencer School of Etiquette.

But Hunter finds he is more interested in his lessons than he thought he would be. Actually, it’s his teacher, Ali Spencer, who has caught his interest. All he seems to think about is smudging her perfect lipstick with long, hot kisses and upsetting her practiced poise with the most improper proposals. With his fiancée out hunting bigger game, Hunter realizes that good manners are no match for basic instincts, and he’s got all the charm he needs to win the woman he really loves.

And my second guest is…Barbara Monajem!

Barbara’s latest book is SUNRISE IN A GARDEN OF LOVE AND EVIL:

Dark secrets abound in the town of Bayou Gavotte, Louisiana, from blackmail to fetish clubs to murder, and when blood-and-love starved vampire Ophelia Beliveau calls in the police to scare away whoever is desecrating her garden, Detective Gideon O’Toole unearths more than he ever dreamed…

No, I’m not talking about reading bones or I-Ching coins or anything remotely woo-woo, although that would probably be more appropriate, seeing as I write paranormal romance, and my characters have a whole slew of strange abilities.

I’m talking about foreign languages. I love words—probably one of the reasons I write—and I love them in any language. Just recently, I visited Montreal. It’s a wonderful city, especially in the summer. I lived there for several years, and I miss hearing French spoken all around me.

And I love reading the signs. When we’re riding in the car, I read sign after sign out loud. Danseuses nues (nude dancers). Moi, Toi, et Café (fabulous place for breakfast and café-au-lait). Donnez du sang. Donnezla vie (Give blood. Give life). And all those lovely saints-name street signs: Saint-Jacques, Sainte-Catherine, Saint-Urbain. I love the way French rolls off my tongue, but it’s disconcerting for whoever’s sitting next to me, because they keep thinking I’m talking to them.

Nope. I’m just reading the signs. Last time I visited Germany, it was much the same. My German is much worse than my French, but not understanding what I’m reading doesn’t stop me. I love the sound of words, and I’m always happy to learn new ones. When I first moved to Atlanta, I missed the foreign-language signs, but now there are Spanish signs to read all around me.

Of course, there are many other kinds of signs. Astrological signs. Oracles. Signs in the heavens. Crop circles. Signs of the times… What kinds of signs do you like seeing, writing, or reading about?

To be entered into today’s drawing (two winners will be chosen!), answer Barbara’s question in the comment section of this post.